Method of removing swells in sheet and plate metal



N0 Model.)

J. W. BRITTON.

METHOD OF'REMOVING SWELLS IN SHEET AND vPLATE METAL.

No. 312,608. A Patented Feb. 24, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

JOSEPH F. BRITTON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

METHOD OF REMOVING SWELLS IN SHEET AND PLATE METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,608, dated February 24, 1885.

- Application filed November 10, 1854. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH W. BRITTON, of Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented an Improved Method for Removing the Swells and Leveling Sheet and Plate Metal; and I do hereby declare that the following is a clear and full description thereof. 7

Sheets and plates of metal on leaving the rolls are more or less warped and buckled, in consequence of the unequal shrinking of the metal while coo1ing,thereby causing the swells and bulges, which render the sheets unfit for many purposes and incapable of being closely packed one upon the other for shipping, as the sheets, in consequence of their irregular and d condition, will not lie evenly and close t ether. The sheets and plates after they are rolled outrequire to be annealed, which is done by reheating them. This also causes swelling and buckling of the metal by the expansion and contraction of heating and cooling, and also by the manipulation through which they pass,leaving them in an unfit condition for many uses.

The abovementioned defects in sheet metal have heretofore been partly removed by passing the sheets repeatedly endwise and sidewise through rolls, by which the sheets are much improved and made fit for work, for which they would not be had they not been thus treated. Said treatment of the sheets or plates, however, is expensive, both in view of the necessary machinery required for that purpose and the cost of labor attending it, as one sheet only can be operated on at the same time. The kink and buckle in sheets have been taken out by stretching the short places by hammering. This treatment, though effective in removing the buckle, injures the grain or fiber of the metal, and is therefore objectionable, and a more tedious and expensive means than the use of rolls for that purose. To avoid the use of rolls and hammering for the above specified purpose is the object of my invention,which consists in subjecting one or more sheets of metal at a time, when cold, to atensile strain, whereby the short places in thereby the swells or bulges reduced, making the short places the length of the swells and the plate or sheet an evenly flat or smooth surface, so that they will lie closely and compactly upon each other when bundled, and in a perfect condition for use, requiring no manipulation for leveling the sheet when being used.

That my method of removing the warp and leveling sheet or plate metal may be fully understood, a description of the machine for that purpose is as follows, and as shown in the drawings making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are detached sections.

Like letters of reference denote like parts in the several views.

In the drawings, A is a rectangular-shaped frame, which may be of any suitable size for the sheets or plates of metal to be treated therein.

B and O are the ends of the frame, and project above the sides thereof.

D and E are stay-rods which pass freely through the end 0 of the frame to the retaining-head G, in which they are secured. In each of said rods are key-holes in which to insert the keys F.

Longitudinally in the side of the head G, and through its entire length,is a deep groove, forming in the head a tubular-like shell, as seen in the drawings.

5 and c are a pair of clamping -jaws fitted in the hollow or concave of the head, and arranged to opemtoward the back thereof. A detached view of one of the jaws is shown in Fig. 3. The jaws are retained in the head by links H, one end of which is secured to the end of the head, and in the opposite end of the link is'j ournaled the pivotal end 6 of the jaw, substantially as shown in the drawings, in which it will be seen that the upper edge of one jaw and the lower edge of the other are fitted in a groove, (1 d, Fig 42, forming an articulation of the two jaws in the head, that they may not slip in their connection therewith, nor lose their grip upon the plate or sheet of metal 0, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

On the Opposite end of the frameis a head, I- a duplicate of the head and jaws G-for clamping a sheet of metal, as hereinafter shown.

To the head I are attached a pair of drawrods, J J, passing through the end of the frame and terminating in a cross-head, K, to which they are secured by nuts, or their equivalent, as seen at m.

Between the end B of the frame and the head I is a spring, L; or two springs may be usedone around each of the draw-rods J J- the use of which hereinafter appear.

M is a cylinder secured to the end of the frame between the draw-rods. N is a piston fitting in the cylinder and connected to the cross-head K. Said cylinder, by any suitable means, is attached to a hydrostatic pump (not shown in the drawings) for operating the machine,for the purpose specified, and as follows: One or more warped sheets or plates of metal are secured in the jaws, as seen at O in Figs. 1 and 2. The head G is retained in position by the keys E, while the power of the pump is applied to the movable head I, and by its action draws said head toward the B end of the frame, and consequently stretches the sheet or sheets of metal in that direction. The strain thus applied to the sheets lengthens the short parts of the metal just enough to take out the swells or buckle therefrom, thus leveling the sheets, which remain so when they are taken from the machine-that is, free of swells or buckles, and of a perfectly flat surface, and that without injuring the fiber of the metal.

The purpose of the spring L is to move back the head when the forceof the pump is shut off, that the sheets may be taken from the jaws. By this method sheets and plates of warped metal when cold and subjected to the action of the machine, as above described, are

at once brought to a perfect condition, being fiat and level on their entire surface, fit for the manufacturer or for being bundled or packed for transportation, which cannot be as effectually done by any other known means.

I am aware that crooked bars of iron immediately on leaving the rolls and while in a heated state, or reheated for the purpose, are straightened by subjecting themto a tensile strain. Such bars,however, are not stretchedthat is to say, necessarily elongated. They are no'longer after than they were before being treated hence that which distinguishes my method from others is stretching or elongating the sheet or plate of metal by subjecting it when cold to a tensile strain, thereby elongating it more or less, as the degree of the warp or buckle it possesses may determine, and leaving the plate or sheet flat and level over its entire surface.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In the manufacture of sheet and plate metal, the herein-described method of leveling and flattening the swells, bulges, or buckle of the sheet and plate, by securing transversely the ends of one or more of said sheets or plates in clamping-heads, and while cold subjecting the sheet or sheets to a tensile strain, by which are stretched the short places thereof, attended by aflattening and leveling down of the swells and bulges and an elongation of the entire sheet or sheets more 0 eb iniparting to said sheets an surface, in the manner substantiscribed.

In testimony whereof I a-ffix my signature in presence of "two witnesses.

JOSEPH IVM. BRITTON.

\Vitnesses:

V. H. BURRIDc-n, J. H. BURRIDGE, 

